The Hotel

Design and innovation improving the Cala de Montjoi cultural environment

The Cala de Montjoi emplacement is, no doubt, a paradisiac site. It is a natural wonder with a very specific beauty that allows it to attract activities beyond tourism. We don’t have to look hard to find something that represents in an accurate way this link between culture and the exuberant aesthetics of this place: el Bulli.

Just reading this name makes our mind travel to the degustation of exquisite culinary wonders, to international recognition and first level kitchen experimentation. But it’s been a while since el Bulli stopped being just a synonym of delicious food and the standout showcase for one of the world’s most renowned cooks. From being a restaurant, el Bulli transformed itself into a design space, an environment to allow creativity and proposals to flow freely, adding value to the cultural and entrepreneurship offer of la Cala Montjoi.

Roses and la Cala de Montjoi: not just natural beauty, but an area of creative development

For us, lovers and fans of la Cala de Montjoi, is a known fact that it’s an outstanding natural beauty. Nonetheless, not just its bays and clear blue water, or its amazing natural parks are worthy the visit.

There’s a thing: this “Cala” among other places in the Costa Brava, is part of an incredible touristic area plenty of details that attract other kind of activities and ideas. Discovering the forest and mountains surrounding the sea induces artistic creativity, gastronomy experimentation and new ideas exploration.

Maybe all these elements drove the founders of el Bulli to choose this emplacement for their restaurant: giving life to the sea and mountain gastronomy culture that shapes Roses and the Costa Brava as a whole.

El Bulli Innovation Lab

Even though el Bulli closed its doors as a restaurants already 6 years ago, this was only the beginning of a great metamorphosis. This changing process lead the former restaurant to become a creativity laboratory, which explorations transcend the gastronomy area, pushing intellectual boundaries and limits.

From experimentation with molecular kitchen and recipe’s deconstruction, el Bulli will become a true design innovation laboratory focusing in elements such as efficiency and efficacy of creative processes. These ideas are already the foundations of a new Master in Creative Design that will be offered in partnership with Elisava, design University in Barcelona.

Aside from this academic project led by the once considered best chef of the world, Ferrán Adriá, the authentic space that once was the physic environment of the restaurant will become an Innovation Lab, allowing the cultural life of the Cala to grow deeper roots and wider wings at the same time.

Here at Vistabella Hotel we encourage this initiative, but also we consider we can complement it offering unique accommodation facilities, really nearby the facilities of this completely new Innovation Lab. Also, if cooking experimentation is what attracts tourists and visitors to this interesting creativity space, they could really enjoy our five restaurants (one of them counting with one Michelin star).

Article written by Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering. Images courtesy of the team of Elisava’s students collaborating with Ferrán Adriá to redesign the area for the Innovation Lab. (For more images, visit the Flickr Elisava Page)